St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-04-16

church, and we never yet threw out the
gospel net but we drew in great multi
tude. They have come, one hundred at 3
time and two hundred at a time. and two
hundred aud fifty at 4 TIM, and expect
the day will appear when, il some scrVsce,
there will be three thou Sand souls accept
ing the off 3rs of ctern&l life.
wish could tc ! y)u some c:rcum
stances that have come under my observa-
| ton, proving the fact that Col has
blessed the prayers of these people in be-
| half OF souls immortal. | could tell you Of
one night, when | stood at the end of the
platform, and gentleman passed nc,
his cheek Dronzed with the sea- and as he
| went into the inquiry-room he said to me:
II am an Engishman.'
said: Il am very glad to see you; walk
| i'm
That night he gave his ho,lt to the Lord
1t was clear case of quicl but thorough
conversion, Passing out at the close Of
| the inquiry meeting, | said:
How long have you bee. in this c0ua-
try:'
He said: II arrived by steamer this
morning at eleven O'clock"
said ''How long Will you be in the
! city,"
He said: II leave tom orrow for an
ada, and thence | 90 10 Halifax, ard
thence to Europe, and II. never be hero
again.
said: Il think you must have come to
this country to have your soul savedn"
| He said: ''That certainly was the rea-
| SON.
But could tell you Of q tragic scene:
| When at the close Of the service, | found
| a man upon one of these front seats,
| wrought upon most nightly, l SAID to
| him:
what is the matter:'
| He replied: Il am d captive of strong
| drink; 1 came from the West; thou CHIT
perhaps, You might do me some good; I
find you can't do me any good; find there
is no hope for me-
said: Come into this side room and
we will talk toge her"
''Oh. no.'' he said; there's no need OF
my going in: am lost man: | have a
beautiful wife; l have four beautiful
children; l had a fin profession; | have
had a thorough education; had every op-
portunlty a man ever had, but am a cap
tive Of strong drink; God only knows
what suffer-"
| said: ''Be encouraged; come in here
and we'll talk together about it,
'.No,' said he, 81 can't come: Won can't
do me any good. | was on the Hudson
down I resolved never again to touch a
drop of strong drink. While | sat there a
man came ina low creaturc-and sat by
me; he had a whisky flask, and he said
to me:
''W1ll you take a drink?''
Il said no; but oh, how wanted it, and
as | said no it seemed that the liquor
curled up around the mouth OF the flask
and begged:
'''Take mel take me! take mer
81 felt that [ couldn't resist it, and vet
was determined not to drink. AM | rush
ed out on the platform of the car. and
thought | ould jump off; we were going
at the rate OF forty miles an hour, AMI
didn't dare to jump; the paroxysm of
thirst went off, and am here tonight
l said: "Come IN, Ill pray for YOU and
commend you to Cod
He came in trem bling Som, of YOU re-
member. After the service we walked
out and up the street l said:
you have an awful struggle: I'll take
you into drug store; perhaps the d ctor
can give you some medicine that VIII help
you in your struggle, though, after all,
you will have to depend upon the grace of
God"
said to the doctor:
'Can you give this man something to
help him in his battle against strong
drinls!n
II CAM replied the doctor, and he pre-
pared bottle of medicine.
said; "There is no alcohol in this-no
strong drinka'
''None at ALL" said the doctor.
Glow long will this last?' l inquired
at will last him a week"
''Oh, said, give US another bottle.''
Mt n no ctr nd
under the gaslight 1t was getting late,
and said to the man:
Il must part with you Put your trust
in the Lord and he will see you through.
Y on will make use Of this medicine when
the paroxysm of thirst comes on"
A few weeks passed away, and got
letter from Boston, saying:
DEAR FR1END-I inclose the money YOU
paid for that medicine 1 have never used any
oft. The thirst for strong drink has entirely
gone away from me. send you two or three
newspapers to show you what I have been
doing since came to Boston,"
Iopaned the newspapers and saw ac-
counts OF meetings of two thousand or
three thousand people, to whom this man
had been preaching righteousness, tenn
perance, and judgment to come. l have
heard from him again and again since. He
is faithful now, and will, know, be faith
full to the last. o, this work of soul saw
ing! Would to God that out of this audi
ence to-day five hundred men might hear
the voice OF the Son of God bidding them
come to glorious resurrection
All the offers of the gospel are extended
to you without money and without
price, and yoa are conscious Of the fact
that these opportunities will soon be
gone forever. The conductor of d rail-
train was telling me of the fact that he
was one night standing by his train on
side track, his train having been switched
off so that the express train might dart
past unhindered. He said while he stood
there in the darkness beside his train on